Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

androidpolice.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 169 posts

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#81

Post by netcan »

eggbrain wrote: post #38

Am I the only one that finds it somewhat funny that a phone with no LTE, non-removable battery, no SD card slot and glass front and back is the most talked about Android phone to date?

Non-removable battery is a choice which a lot of people are OK with. If the battery doesn't deteriorate, at least.

No LTE doesn't affect people on non-LTE networks (eg all of Ireland) and isn't a deal breaker for people who mostly connect via wireless (eg all those people who are happy enough with highly restricted data plans).

If those two things contribute to the attractive price and/or design then for a big group of people these are good things. They still get a phone that works great at a low price without paying for features they can't or won't use.

This isn't the highest end phone on the market, but it puts a a lot of computer in your pocket at a price that people will be willing to pay.

What was the median price of a phone pre-iphone?

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#82

Post by metatronscube »

mikelward wrote: post #79
metatronscube wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah for instance when Apple did this design a few years ago it was mostly unacceptable among Fandroids and HN crowd. Now its good, because its Android. Its no secret that HN is heavily biased against Apple (and to some extent MS). I don't know, must be all the Google employees here or something. Its always interesting to watch how these conversations turn out. Its been getting a lot more noticeable over the years on…

According to The Verge, it was a choice between faster data on the one hand, and timely updates, better battery life, and lower price on the other. I'm guessing for a lot of the Nexus's target market, and for Google, faster updates win out. http://mobile.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3569688/why-nexus-4-do...

Absolutely, I get why they did it, and its a nice device (if a bit big for me). However I feel its more about getting it into as many markets as possible as well.

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#83

Post by mikelward »

searbe wrote: post #24
untog wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I currently hace a 4.3" phone which feels like it is pushing the limits for me. That said, I will be picking up a Nexus 4- because the phone buttons are now on-screen instead of hardware the 4.7" figure is misleading. But I think a 4" phone is the ideal for me, sadly no Android manufacturer is interested in it making a phone that is both powerful and a reasonable size.

The Razr I (or Razr M, depending where you are) is worth a look if form factor is an issue. The Intel processor in the Razr I isn't high-end, but I've not had any compatibility issues and games (Minecraft, GTA III, World of Goo) run fine - not to mention great battery life. Although I would personally go for the Nexus 4 if I hadn't already bought one of these - simply because it has great specs, is "pure Google" and…

I wish there would be a Nexus version of the RAZR M. The battery life really is good. Certainly the best 4" Android phone out at the moment.

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#84

Post by mikelward »

nickik wrote: post #77
davidw wrote: post #7

> The other complaint I've heard is that this phone has a glass back, and it will break if you drop it. This is true, but guess what? Every phone will break if you drop it. Electronics aren't made to be dropped. Say what you will about their recent problems, but Nokia made phones that were solid. I dropped them on numerous occasions without problems. I've been pretty happy with the Samsung phone that replaced my Noki…

I have a Nexus S (Samsung too) and I have dropped that phone many many times (I like the Swing the phone between my Fingers). That thing is stable, sure the cover springs of and the battery falls out but it keeps working and the screen still hole too. Good Phone the Nexus S.

It's really easy to drop the Nexus S. The back is too slippery.

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#85

Post by mikelward »

hayksaakian wrote: post #19
davidw wrote: post #7

> The other complaint I've heard is that this phone has a glass back, and it will break if you drop it. This is true, but guess what? Every phone will break if you drop it. Electronics aren't made to be dropped. Say what you will about their recent problems, but Nokia made phones that were solid. I dropped them on numerous occasions without problems. I've been pretty happy with the Samsung phone that replaced my Noki…

I've dropped my galaxy nexus plenty, and its still getting by without a kink in the screen or the body, albeit scratches on the corners.

My screen broke somehow when it was sitting in my backpack. Not the best construction ever.

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#86

Post by Goronmon »

metatronscube wrote: post #56
eggbrain wrote: post #38

Am I the only one that finds it somewhat funny that a phone with no LTE, non-removable battery, no SD card slot and glass front and back is the most talked about Android phone to date?

Yeah for instance when Apple did this design a few years ago it was mostly unacceptable among Fandroids and HN crowd. Now its good, because its Android. Its no secret that HN is heavily biased against Apple (and to some extent MS). I don't know, must be all the Google employees here or something. Its always interesting to watch how these conversations turn out. Its been getting a lot more noticeable over the years on…

Yeah for instance when Apple did this design a few years ago it was mostly unacceptable among Fandroids and HN crowd. Now its good, because its Android.

Or the people who disliked it when it Apple did it are a different group of people that like it when an Android phone does it. Or they see it as an acceptable trade-off given the non-subsidized price of the Nexus 4.

But hey, don't let that stop you from pointing out such a grave injustice.

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#87

Post by Corrado »

netcan wrote: post #81
eggbrain wrote: post #38

Am I the only one that finds it somewhat funny that a phone with no LTE, non-removable battery, no SD card slot and glass front and back is the most talked about Android phone to date?

Non-removable battery is a choice which a lot of people are OK with. If the battery doesn't deteriorate, at least. No LTE doesn't affect people on non-LTE networks (eg all of Ireland) and isn't a deal breaker for people who mostly connect via wireless (eg all those people who are happy enough with highly restricted data plans). If those two things contribute to the attractive price and/or design then for a big group…

Honestly, I'm drooling over the newer model before the battery in any of my phones deteriorates to the point of being useless. I really like the option of induction charging (like on my Palm Pre) and not being able to change the battery doesn't bother me one bit.

Also, I like the fact that a sealed case gives lint/dust/dirt less of a chance to invade my phone. I have a Galaxy Nexus and I have to take the back off every so often to clean the gunk out of the speaker & camera lens.

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#88

Post by kirubakaran »

eggbrain wrote: post #38

Am I the only one that finds it somewhat funny that a phone with no LTE, non-removable battery, no SD card slot and glass front and back is the most talked about Android phone to date?

Well the difference is, you can just buy a different Android phone which is just as powerful but doesn't have these 'defects'. The choice is yours. With an iPhone, you either buy one "with no LTE, non-removable battery, no SD card slot and glass front and back" or you don't buy an iPhone at all.

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#89

Post by runevault »

CrazedGeek wrote: post #71
runevault wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will say at least in my case I'm not thrilled by the lack of SD card and no removable battery. As I already am on TMobile HSPA+ is better for me, however. But with Android it seems like every phone is trade offs, and to get good battery life, latest version of android, and the nexus experience, I'll give up those things.

Or do what I did and go with a phone with near-vendor support of an AOSP ROM. Hello, Galaxy S III and CyanogenMod.

Sure, though personally I don't want to spend my time rooting my phone. For those who do, awesome. I don't feel like investing the time in that process when I could be doing more productive things (to me) with my day.

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#90

Post by CrazedGeek »

gridaphobe wrote: post #75
eggbrain wrote: post #38

Am I the only one that finds it somewhat funny that a phone with no LTE, non-removable battery, no SD card slot and glass front and back is the most talked about Android phone to date?

As an iPhone user (4S) that all sounds pretty standard! On a more serious note, I don't understand all the fuss about LTE. IIRC it's something like 20Mbps in practice, which is faster than most Internet connections in the US. What is the use case for such bandwidth on a phone? YouTube already plays just fine with HSPA+.

I have been wondering this exact same thing myself. I get 16Mbps on HSPA+, and that's more than plenty for everything I do. I could sort of see LTE making sense in tablets (streaming 1080p on HSPA+ is definitely doable, but doesn't leave a lot of extra bandwidth), but I genuinely have no idea why it's (currently) important in phones.
Post reply on HN